First the Galaxy Tab 10.1, now the Galaxy Nexus. Apple has, for the second time in two weeks, convinced the court to bar the sale of a competing Samsung product for patent infringement.

U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh ruled in favor of Apple late today, granting a preliminary injunction against Samsung's Google-designed smartphone. Koh found that the Nexus is "no more than colorably different" and, as such, infringes on Apple's "slide to unlock" patent. In her ruling Koh argues:

Although Samsung will necessarily be harmed by being forced to withdraw its product from the market before the merits can be determined after a full trial, the harm faced by Apple absent an injunction is greater. Apple's interest in enforcing its patent rights is particularly strong because it has presented a strong case on the merits. As discussed above, Apple has shown a likelihood of prevailing on the merits of all four of its asserted patents. Apple has further shown a likelihood of irreparable harm attributable to Samsung's infringement of the '604 Patent if the injunction does not issue. Samsung, by contrast, does not present any evidence of what hardship it will suffer if the injunction issues.

Koh issued a similar ruling last week when she found that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 violated of another Apple patent and barred its sale as well. The ruling goes into effect once Apple ponies up a $95.6 million bond to cover Samsung's projected losses should the ruling be overturned.

Samsung is expected to appeal the ruling, especially given that Google recently designated the device as its ICS flagship model and has already begun distributing it to developers ahead of Jelly Bean's SDK release. [All Things D - Engadget]